Any parent involved with their children’s homework or school knows that “green” is in. But too often more than that, “green” notions are presented as self-evident truths where there should be critical thinking and discussion. Also too often, federal and state funds are being dispensed to create the ‘greenest’ possible hearts and minds for tomorrow.

Such is the case with an industry that is economically useless and environmentally destructive: industrial wind power. A website of the U.S. Department of Energy, Wind Powering America, describes how schools can receive taxpayer funding for wind projects. The site provides links to wind-friendly educational materials from Canada, California, Idaho, the Dakotas, Montana, and Arizona.

Wind companies and their trade groups are also involved. In Ontario, my province, teachers are asked how they feel about corporate logos in schools in exchange for such “benefits” as free computers. The response is often negative, but industrial-wind propaganda abounds in textbooks, learning materials, and kid-friendly websites.

Take a peak at these corporate “green” programs all around you. Here in Canada, there is Lego, and his/her treats,Dad’s Cookies(now Kraft). Eco Logo products for kids abound. Spin Master, third largest toy manufacturer in the USA and the largest in Canada, now advertises that it uses Bullfrog Power, thus luring young purchasers further into green propaganda.

One of the world's top environmentalists has said wind farms risk becoming “monuments of a failed civilisation" as he fights to stop a 275ft turbine being erected near his home.

Professor James Lovelock, 93, a founding father of the Green movement, is famous for inventing “Gaia Theory” and predicting global warming would wipe out four fifths of the world's population by 2100. But he has now expressed despair that the original intentions of the movement have been misconstrued as a license to cast aside our “priceless ecological heritage.”

In recent years the scientist has outraged many followers after becoming an advocate of nuclear power and a staunch opponent of wind energy. Prof Lovelock is protesting against a single turbine at Witherdon Wood, Broadwoodwidger. It is believed he lives or has a property 43 miles away near Barnstaple.

In a letter to Torridge District Council, his local planning authority, Professor Lovelock wrote: "I am an environmentalist and founder member of the Greens but I bow my head in shame at the thought that our original good intentions should have been so misunderstood.

The approval comes despite local opposition, with a survey of Lincolnshire residents showing that 90% opposed the wind farm.

While they were forced to accept the latest decision Lincolnshire has already fulfilled its requirements of providing wind energy, he said, adding: “We understand the need for renewable energy. However, we can’t ignore the impact wind farms are having on our beautiful and historic countryside for what appears to be very limited gain.”

The Earth has been getting warmer -- but how much of that heat is due to greenhouse gas emissions and how much is due to natural causes? A leaked report by a United Nations’ group dedicated to climate studies says that heat from the sun may play a larger role than previously thought.

“The public needs to know now how the main premises and conclusions of the IPCC story line have been undercut by the IPCC itself,” Rawls wrote on his website.

Rawls blames the U.N. for burying its point about the effect of the sun in Chapter 11 of the report. “Even after the IPCC acknowledges extensive evidence for ... solar forcing beyond what they included in their models, they still make no attempt to account for this omission in their predictions. ... It's insane.”

Should businesses and families have to pay higher electricity rates to underwrite the cost of wind energy they don't even use?

That is the issue as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission takes up a complaint by Interstate Power and Light Co. (IPL) that 500,000 rate payers in Iowa and Minnesota will have to pay $170.5 million from 2008-2016 for transmission lines and upgrades to connect wind farms to the electric grid. The utility provides compelling evidence that "the burden of these huge costs is unrelated to any benefits that may accrue to IPL and its customers." And they are paying even though they "have not experienced any material improvements to reliability or lower energy prices."

The case has ramifications nationwide because the price tag for upgrading and expanding power lines to reach offshore and remote wind turbines could reach $150 billion. The green energy lobby and Obama Administration want to socialize these costs on the backs of all rate payers.

We criticized this stealth consumer tax two years ago when Michigan rate payers were asked to subsidize about 20% of the $16 billion cost to build wind-based power lines outside the state even though those customers received little benefit.

Hello Canada! Are you ready — ready for a new national tax on carbon that will ding pocketbooks across the country? My bet is that a new carbon tax is coming, made almost inevitable by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s full-bore push to secure Washington’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

For early clues on the carbon tax/Keystone trade-off, tune in Tuesday night to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. As the president speaks, he will be alert to the chorus of Hollywood stars, environmental activists, editorial writers and industry leaders who are pushing for him to make the biggest climate-change decision he can possibly make: Impose a carbon tax.

It is time Canadians became aware of the giant trap being set in Washington over Keystone. The short version is this: The president approves Keystone, greatly expanding the flow of Canadian oil sands production into the United States. In return, however, Canada has no choice but to accept a carbon tax at home as part of a grand bargain.

The Keystone-carbon tax trade off was also suggested in a recent editorial in Nature, the science journal. The editorial was big news in Canada, thanks to its endorsement of Keystone and Canada’s oil sands. “Regarding the Keystone pipeline,” said Nature, “the administration should face down critics of the project, ensure environmental standards are met and then approve it.” The science writers at Nature also benevolently said Canada’s oil sands are “not as dirty as many believe.”

The Washington Post is on the same two-track policy theme. Last month the Post urged the president to “ignore the activists who have bizarrely chosen to make Keystone XL a line-in-the-sand issue.” Last week, in a climate-change editorial, the Post presented the other half of the bargain with a ringing endorsement of a carbon tax. Putting a “slowly rising, significant price on carbon emissions” would encourage people to burn less fossil fuel. As an added fiscal bonus, since Washington needs new revenues to meet its fiscal crisis, “a carbon tax would be an ideal source” of revenue.

Europe's failure to raise carbon prices enough to spur green energy use means more nations are expected to follow the example of Britain and take action on their own. EU efforts in the immediate term are focused on a Feb. 19 vote in a committee of the European Parliament which will provide the next signal of whether a plan to bolster the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme can proceed.

Even if agreed, analysts predict it will be years before European carbon prices rise to the level of at least 40 euros ($53) that analysts say is needed to spur investment in low-carbon energy. That's good news for intensive energy users and coal-burners, but bad for governments committed to 2020 environmental targets for which they need to bolster green energy use.

A positive vote next week would give an indication of whether the European Union has the political will for deeper reform needed over the longer term. It would then require further debate among member states and a plenary session of the European Parliament.

Following last night’s State of the Union Address in which the president pledged to implement a job-killing climate change agenda,U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) today introduced legislation to prohibit the United States from contributing taxpayer dollars to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Luetkemeyer said the IPCC has received a great deal of criticism over the last several years, particularly when emails publicly released from a university in England showed that leading global scientists intentionally manipulated climate data and suppressed legitimate arguments in peer-reviewed journals. Researchers were asked to delete and destroy emails so that a small number of scientists could continue to advance their environmental agenda. Since that time, more than 700 acclaimed scientists have challenged claims made by IPCC.

“The American people should not have to foot the bill for an international organization that is fraught with waste, engaged in dubious science, and is promoting an agenda that will destroy jobs and drive up the cost of energy in the United States,” Luetkemeyer said. “Unfortunately, the president appears to be ready to fund these groups, revive harmful policies like cap and trade, and further empower out of control federal regulators at a time when we should be doing everything possible to cut wasteful spending, reduce regulatory red tape, and promote economic growth.”

America's hydroelectric power sector received a boost as House Resolution 267, also known as the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013, received a unanimous 422-0 vote of approval before the U.S. House of Representatives earlier today.

The legislation is essentially the same as H.R. 5892, which was a bipartisan energy policy designed to promote growth of mini hydro and in-conduit projects by streamlining the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting process for low-impact proposals.

Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners has reached an agreement to purchase 19 hydroelectric dams in Maine, including the two largest in the state.

The company, which is managed and majority-owned by Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, is acquiring the portfolio of 19 hydroelectric dams, as well as eight upstream storage reservoir dams, from NextEra Energy Resources LLC for approximately $760 million, according to a media release from the company.

The 19 dams are primarily on the Kennebec, Androscoggin and Saco rivers and have a total capacity of 351 megawatts and annual generation capacity of 1.6 million megawatt-hours, according to the release. All of the facilities have licenses from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, most of which are valid through 2025. All output from the facilities is sold into the New England wholesale power market.

These dams belonged to the original 31 hydroelectric dams FPL Energy of Maine acquired from Central Maine Power Co. in 1999 after Maine restructured its energy industry, forcing electric utilities like CMP to sell off its generating assets.

Brookfield acknowledged in a press release last night, that it had failed to obtain the sufficient number of shares required under the Rules for a Permitted Bid by an Insider, namely, acceptance by 50% of independent shareholders of its bid of $2.60. Significantly, in its press release, Brookfield deliberately omitted to state the number of shareholders who had tendered to its bid, a fact that we believe indicates that many shareholders decided to reject their offer and confirms Brookfield's news release of January 28, 2013 where Brookfield confirms only 22% of the shareholders have either tendered or may do so in the future. This leaves more than 75% of shareholders who have said "NO" to the Brookfield Offer. The Brookfield bid has been public since November 23, 2012, with a nominal increase of $0.10 per share made on January 28, 2013, sufficient time for shareholders to make an assessment.

Brookfield has previously stated, three times, that their bid was a "final offer" and that "time is running out". Brookfield has now extended its bid by ten days as a result of its huge failure to obtain the required number of tendered shares.

The Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft proposal of its plans for adapting to climate change. The proposal will be open for public review and comment for 60 days. “Adaptation will involve anticipating and planning for changes in climate and incorporating considerations of climate change into many of the agency’s programs, policies, rules and operations,” the EPA said Thursday.

Scientific evidence demonstrates that the climate is changing at an increasingly rapid rate, outside the range to which society has adapted in the past. Climate change can pose significant challenges to the EPA’s ability to fulfill its mission. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is committed to identifying and responding to the challenges that a changing climate poses to human health and the environment.

It is essential; therefore, that the EPA adapt to climate change in order to continue fulfilling its statutory, regulatory and programmatic requirements, chief among these protection of human health and the environment. Adaptation will involve anticipating and planning for changes in climate and incorporating considerations of climate change into many of the Agency’s programs, policies, rules and operations to ensure they are effective under changing climatic conditions. Adaptation also necessitates close coordination between EPA and its many partners and stakeholders

The wind production tax credit will be the subject of increased oversight this Congress, Rep. James Lankford told The Hill on Tuesday.

Congress, with a strong push from the White House, extended the credit for one year in the January deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” The renewal included an alteration that allowed wind projects to collect the credit if developers commence construction by 2014, rather than turbines beginning to produce power by that deadline.

It’s a change that will allow more projects to qualify over the next year — and one that’s raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Some conservative lawmakers say the tweak will expand the program and the federal deficit, noting the one-year extension would cost $12.1 billion through 10 years.

President Obama proposed a program in Tuesday's State of the Union address that would divert some revenues from federal oil-and-gas drilling into research for alternative fuel technology. In a nod to the economic challenges facing many families, Obama cast the initiative, which he called an “Energy Security Trust,” as a way to reduce household gasoline expenses.

Large bidders keen on setting up utility scale solar power generation projects have backed out of the bids called by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, according to industry sources.

Players such as IL&FS, Crescent Power, a multinational player in solar project and large developers have expressed their inability to invest in the solar project at the tariff quoted by Tangedco. Last week, the utility had initiated negotiations with bidders where it had quoted the figure of Rs 6.48 a unit.

A large real estate developer who had participated in the bid said the company found that there would be ‘negative cash flow’ at that level not counting the benefit of accelerated depreciation. Investment of over Rs 8.5 crore a MW cannot happen depending purely on accelerated depreciation.

Suntech, the world’s largest producer of solar panels, said Monday that it might have been the victim of a $690 million fraud related to a European investment. The suspected fraud could affect the Chinese company’s ability to pay convertible notes due next year and Suntech said it may delay reporting second quarter earnings while it conducts an investigation. Suntech shares fell 15.3% to $1.33 Monday morning.

It’s a convoluted tale involving phantom German government bonds, the China Development Bank, a Spanish solar entrepreneur and Suntech’s top executives.

Bilta, a company incorporated in England and registered as a vendor for the purposes of VAT, traded in the purchase and sale of carbon credits on the Danish Emissions Trading Agency. It bought carbon credits amounting to €294m during 2009 from traders outside the UK. The purchases were therefore zero-rated. They then sold these carbon credits to persons in the United Kingdom who were registered for VAT, none of which businesses had a use for carbon credits and these supplies therefore standard rated.

Bilta was unable to pay the VAT due on its supplies because it had made no profit and the proceeds of its sales had been paid away to the overseas traders. HMRC raised eight assessments on Bilta for VAT in an amount of £38 million and the company went into liquidation.

Three members of a U.K. gang seeking to steal “as much money as possible” from the public purse in a value-added tax fraud involving carbon permits were sentenced yesterday to a total of 35 years in jail, the government said.

Sandeep Singh Dosanjh was jailed for 15 years, Navdeep Singh Gill for 11 years and Ranjot Singh Chahal for nine years, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs said today in a statement on its website. Four other people were acquitted.

The gang set up a chain of bogus companies in order to trade fraudulently in European Union emissions allowances, stealing around 38 million pounds ($60 million) through a “complex missing-trader fraud” in a six-month period starting in January 2009, according to the statement.

Europe lost about 5 billion euros in revenue for the 18 months ending 2009 because of the CO2 VAT fraud, according to an estimate by Europol.

Thanks for the extra links, DB and I apologize for the rush job due to the extended power outage . The Spain/ Germany story you list in the comments is something I am watching like a hawk. The current Spain payola scandal may involve, in part, the second largest wind developer in the world.

During the late 80's through 2002 I was involved with renewables. On many occasions I was invited to schools for 'Energy Day" events and represented wind. I never spoke of wind as a cure all and made the point that it might be able to play a small role in the energy mix citing problems with siting and the variability of the wind. I usually got between $30.00-$50.00 per appearance (even though I would have gladly done it for free) to cover travel expenses. The kids would usually vote for my presentation as being the best.

On several occasions I spoke at universities and events sponsored by different groups. The usual honoraria was $100.00.

I now, like the founder of the Green Party, shake my head in disgust. I currently have nothing to do with or have any financial stake in the industry

Nothing influences President Barack Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline quite like the protests against it, led by Bill McKibben, an American environmentalist, and his organization, called 350.org. On Wednesday, 350.org and the Sierra Club participated in an anti-Keystone protest at the White House and this Sunday they are holding another one on Capital Hill. They expect 20,000 people from across the United States.

350.org has the look and feel of an amateur, grassroots operation, but in reality, it is a multi-million dollar campaign run by staff earning six-digit salaries.

…

More than half of the US$10-million came from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy, where McKibben, a trustee, was paid US$25,000 per year (2001-09). Since 2007, the Rockefellers have paid US$4-million towards 1Sky and 350.org, tax returns say. The Schumann Center provided US$1.5-million to McKibben’s three campaigns as well as US$2.7-million to fund the Environmental Journalism Program at Middlebury College, in Vermont, where McKibben is on staff.

Note: McKibben tried to take credit from an associate of mine for work he had done at a small Maine college. I was doing some gratis renewable work for the college at the time.

Police have arrested five people in eastern Sicily suspected of involvement in Mafia corruption over contracts to build wind farms, Italian media report.

The mayor and a councillor in the small town of Fondachelli Fantina, in Messina province, were among those detained.

The five face charges including extortion, fraud and Mafia association.

The investigation, which began in 2009, is linked to sub-contracts awarded to build energy farms near Agrigento, Palermo and Trapani.

A total of 11 people were under investigation, including two managers from a firm that won the main contract to build one of the wind farms, installing 63 turbines.

The contract was worth some 120bn euros (£103bn).

In December, police arrested six people and seized 10bn euros (£8.6bn) in assets in an investigation into suspected Mafia infiltration of other renewable energy facilities in western Sicily, Ansa reports.

The proceeds from contracts are believed to have been channelled to the fugitive head of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Matteo Messina Denaro.

The Cosa Nostra has been trying to get into the renewable energy sector for many years, Italian investigators say.

DB, due to things moving as quickly as they are, I am going to get the other story ready to fly ASAP. There will be follow ups to it as things are a bit complicated and new developments are brought to light.

What is even worse BG is Naomi Klein being associated with this crowd. Her book Shock Doctrine was very informational and I just was floored by this fact. Anyway, we are getting snow up here and I do not hope for a pox on you and yours.

Investors and a group of large businesses have urged the EU to revive its flagging emissions trading scheme (ETS), ahead of a key vote in the European parliament next week.

Shell, General Electric, Kingfisher, Unilever and EDF were among more than 30 large companies signing up to call for reforms that would raise carbon prices and restore confidence in the scheme, which is meant to cut the EU's carbon output. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), which represents investors and asset managers worth €7.5 trillion, also joined the call for reform.

But the suggested way of improving the scheme – a short-term fix of holding back some carbon permits from sale – is complex and it is uncertain whether MEPs will pass the proposal when it comes before the environment committee next Tuesday.

The emissions trading scheme has been on life support for months, as prices of carbon permits have plummeted, to trade at barely €5, down from average prices topping €30 in recent years. Under the scheme, heavy industries and power generators need permits to cover each tonne of carbon dioxide they produce. At such low prices, the permits provide little or no incentive to companies to cut their emissions or invest in cleaner technologies.

Great post John, it saddens me what the green movement has become, just another fraud sprinkle on the fraud pie America is being forced to choke on. My family has been green since green was called pilgrims...

Raising, harvesting, preserving our own food, canning (in reusable Mason jars), recycling/ repurposing, heating with wood (carbon neutral), biodiesel production, and a host of other things that minimalize our impact on this ball in space. I can't even relate to this new breed of "environmentalist". It is all fraud for cash anymore by a bunch of people drinking bottled water and eating energy bars and throwing away the bottles and wrappers...

On a side note, America's cattle herds are at the smallest numbers in 60 years. If you did not get beef months ago when I stated the herds were being slaughtered in record numbers to prevent farmers from having to feed them through the winter due to the rising costs of feed from the drought, prices are now poised to begin going up. Yet demand is still increasing.

For “the biggest climate rally in history,” attendance was remarkably sparse. Those of us in the Light Brigade guessed 5,000. We were heartened by the lack of real enthusiasm by the protesters. The Light Brigade, as our videos will show, had real passion–we love energy with conviction, while they hate it with confusion.

“Forward on climate” was personified by the shivering, emotionally muted, and fairly sparse crowd leaving early in their oil clothing to get to their coal and gas homes.The lesson of the protest was clear: Nature, untamed by fossil fuels and other affordable, reliable energy is an often uncomfortable and dangerous place to be. That’s why the protesters left as early as they could, and why the whole production was ridiculous. Who wants to stand outside in the middle of February, freezing to “send a message” about “global warming”? Resolve faded to the point where by the 4:00 closing time, I could shoot footage right next to the stage with no one within 20 feet of me.

Spain’s biggest power utility by market value says it is a sensible move for a country that has been paying too much for electricity it does not need. “What we were doing was irrational,” says Ignacio Galán, chairman. “It makes no sense. Spain is installing the most expensive technologies in Europe instead of looking for those which are cheapest.” One analyst says they fear retrospective cuts in tariffs from government. Another says a nuclear windfall tax is what they should worry about. As for plans in Britain, Galan says: ”The area that has the most uncertainty is the area of nuclear. We still don’t know how it’s going to be properly paid – what the return will be. The decision to go ahead (in a consortium with GDF Suez) is not going to be taken until the moment the framework is clear and predictable enough, with enough remuneration for those investments.”

Note: I am working on a story regarding Iberdrola may have recently requested subsidies here in the US....

...AFTER FIRST WIND HIRED LARRY RASKY, THE COMPANY SECURED OVER $500 MILLION IN LOANS AND GRANTS

First Wind Has A Steady Presence At The Obama White House

First Wind Hired Larry Rasky’s Firm To Lobby On Its Behalf; Rasky Baerlain Strategic Communications Registers On January 5, 2009. (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12)First Wind Paid Rasky Baerlain $405,000 Between The First Quarter Of 2009 And The Third Quarter Of 2011. (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12)Julia Bovey, First Wind’s Director Of External Affairs, Was Formerly Director Of External Affairs For Obama’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission From June 2009 To June 2010. (Julia Bovey, LinkedIn, Accessed 7/18/12)Since Obama Took Office, Lawrence “Larry” Rasky Has Visited The White House At Least 21 Times. Three Times On September 23, 2009; December 14, 2009; December 15, 2009; February 23, 2010; March 29, 2010; May 5, 2010; July 12, 2010; August 17, 2010; February 2, 2011; February 16, 2011; April 27, 2011; June 17, 2011; Twice On July 20, 2011; July 28, 2011; November 4, 2011; January 10, 2012; February 16, 2012. (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12)First Wind CEO Paul J. Gaynor Has Visited The White House Four Times, Including A Meeting On September 13, 2011 With White House Deputy Assistant To The President For Energy And Climate Change Heather Zichal. (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12)First Wind Received Over $550 Million In Stimulus Funds, Including A $117 Million Loan Guarantee For A Project That Was Financed By Larry Summer’s Hedge Fund

On July 27, 2010, First Wind’s Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii Received A $117,330,968 Loan Guarantee From Through The 1705 Program. (Recovery.gov, Accessed 7/18/12)Since Obama Took Office, First Wind’s Projects Have Received Over $452 Million In Grants Through The Stimulus’ 1603 Program. The Grants Went To First Wind’s Stetson Wind Farm In Maine, 40,441,471; Cohocton Wind Farm In New York, $52,352,334; Dutch Hill Wind Farm In New York, $22,296,494; Milford Wind Corridor Phase I In Utah; $120,147,809; Milford Wind Corridor Phase II In Utah, $80,436,803; Rollins Wind Farm In Maine; $53,246,347; Sheffield Wind Farm In Vermont, $35,914,864; Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii, $35,148,839; Steel Winds II Wind Farm In New York, $12,778,751. ( Department Of The Treasury, Accessed 7/18/12)D.E. Shaw Was Also An Investor In The Kahuku Wind Farm. “Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked Chu whether his decisions had been influenced by several specific people tied to the administration, including former National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers, who before joining the White House worked as a part-time managing director at D.E. Shaw, a New York-based investment firm that has an ownership stake in the Kahuku Wind project.” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Steven Chu On Solyndra: enough Already,” Politico, 3/20/12)In Late 2011, Former Obama National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers Rejoined Hedge Fund D.E. Shaw As A Consultant. “It hasn’t been widely reported, but late last year Summers rejoined the firm, this time as a consultant. According to a person familiar with Shaw, he is spending about five to ten per cent of his time working for the firm, largely in an advisory capacity. Asked what sort of things Summers does, this person said he addresses standard macroeconomic questions-such as the likelihood of a revaluation in the Chinese currency-and also advises the firm on how to limit risk.” (John Cassidy, “Summers And The World Bank: Is Obama Serious?” The New Yorker, 3/22/12)In 2008, Before Joining The Obama White House, Summers Was Paid Over $5 Million From Hedge Fund D.E. Shaw. “Larry Summers made a lot of money last year, and boy is it voyeuristically impossible to resist looking through his disclosure to see who paid him what. The really big money, unsurprisingly, came from DE Shaw: a salary of $1,432,497 (weird amount, that), along with partnership distributions of $3,756,126, for a total of $5,188,623. But just because he was earning $100,000 a week from DE Shaw doesn’t mean he wasn’t earning lots of money elsewhere, too: his speaking engagements alone came to another $2.8 million or so.” (Felix Salmon, “Larry Summers’s Millions,” Reuters, 4/4/09)

BG . No offense taken. Yea it was colder than hell here. I live north of D. C. by about 50 miles or so. I worked outside for a while. Just a bitch is all I can say. Dropped to about 10 here last night. Had some hot coals this morning to crank up the fire. Nice and toasty in here now.

Gimp, According to San Fran, fireplaces spew harmful ash and particulate matter and tried to legislate fireplaces out of existence. Meanwhile Melinda Gates has been running around the world to sell indigenous people's the wonders of non wood stoves. Apparently wood stoves are just a pall on humanity. Meanwhile back here my wood pile is disappearing faster than a bald eagle around a taxpayer funded green energy project wind mill.

The "do gooders" as usual miss the mark. We also use the ash to sweeten the soil. Many places are trying to eliminate wood burning including smokers for the preparation of delectable meats. There have also been attacks on raw foods and even gardening (S 510). After all, it should be obvious that the chemical companies know what is best for us. Modern factory farming is extremely fuel intensive by the time a product hits the market, damaging to the land, and extremely wasteful through corporate and consumer habits.

Unfortunately the do gooders have been the root cause of much suffering for many years now. The alarmists have been trying to outlaw wood heat and cooking for years now. We also use the wood ash to sweeten the soil in the garden. The do gooders who know what is best for us have also been attacking the raw foods and even your right to grow your own food in the recent past (S 510). After all, no one knows what is best for you other than your friendly neighborhood chemical company...

Factory farming is very fuel intensive by the time the product reaches market, poses hazards to the soil, and is extremely wasteful between its own actions and the actions of consumers.

The second article mentions liability of U pick and pay, yet it fails to mention the fact that the majority of Americans world rather starve begging for government help verses reaping the savings of picking their own.

Having established a fast-charging foothold in California for its electric cars, Tesla Motors has brought its formula east, opening two ultrafast charging stations in December that would, in theory, allow a speedy electric-car road trip between here and Boston.But as I discovered on a recent test drive of the company’s high-performance Model S sedan, theory can be trumped by reality, especially when Northeast temperatures plunge...

...As I crossed into New Jersey some 15 miles later, I noticed that the estimated range was falling faster than miles were accumulating. At 68 miles since recharging, the range had dropped by 85 miles, and a little mental math told me that reaching Milford would be a stretch.

I began following Tesla’s range-maximization guidelines, which meant dispensing with such battery-draining amenities as warming the cabin and keeping up with traffic. I turned the climate control to low — the temperature was still in the 30s — and planted myself in the far right lane with the cruise control set at 54 miles per hour (the speed limit is 65). Buicks and 18-wheelers flew past, their drivers staring at the nail-polish-red wondercar with California dealer plates.

Nearing New York, I made the first of several calls to Tesla officials about my creeping range anxiety. The woman who had delivered the car told me to turn off the cruise control; company executives later told me that advice was wrong. All the while, my feet were freezing and my knuckles were turning white.

After a short break in Manhattan, the range readout said 79 miles; the Milford charging station was 73 miles away. About 20 miles from Milford, less than 10 miles of range remained. I called Tesla again, and Ted Merendino, a product planner, told me that even when the display reached zero there would still be a few miles of cushion...

...At that point, the car informed me it was shutting off the heater, and it ordered me, in vivid red letters, to “Recharge Now.”

I drove into the service plaza, hooked up the Supercharger and warmed my hands on a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee.

If this is Tesla’s vision of long-distance travel in America’s future, I thought, and the solution to what the company calls the “road trip problem,” it needs some work.

...Looking back, I should have bought a membership to Butch’s and spent a few hours there while the car charged. The displayed range never reached the number of miles remaining to Milford, and as I limped along at about 45 miles per hour I saw increasingly dire dashboard warnings to recharge immediately. Mr. Merendino, the product planner, found an E.V. charging station about five miles away.

But the Model S had other ideas. “Car is shutting down,” the computer informed me. I was able to coast down an exit ramp in Branford, Conn., before the car made good on its threat.

Tesla’s New York service manager, Adam Williams, found a towing service in Milford that sent a skilled and very patient driver, Rick Ibsen, to rescue me with a flatbed truck. Not so quick: the car’s electrically actuated parking brake would not release without battery power, and hooking the car’s 12-volt charging post behind the front grille to the tow truck’s portable charger would not release the brake. So he had to drag it onto the flatbed, a painstaking process that took 45 minutes. Fortunately, the cab of the tow truck was toasty.

Yea the food goes to waste. Ever watch a grocery store pitch stuff. Hell I tried to get a bunch of stuff for a soup kitchen I used to work at. Just complete boobs. Now even that slob Bloomberg is in on the action. There has to be a nutritionist available to check the food if you are planning to feed poor people. Seattle has done the same thing, stopping the feeding of poor people because of safety and the nutritional value of foods. Locks on dumpsters, we are in such trouble .

In addition to her work combatting fracking, an innovative oil and gas technique that experts say is an economic game-changer for the United States and could help ensure energy independence, Scroggins is also an advocate of incest and pedophilia.

Scroggins expressed her desire for parents to engage their children sexually at a young age in a series of messages in 2001 posted to an online message board called Peacelist.

“Are there cultures that mothers or fathers pleasure their children and teenagers sexually or genitally and also possibly initiate them into sexual expression at some point?” she asked.

“I have had intuitive thoughts that such would be a healthy way for parents to interact with their children and introduce their children to sensual/sexual pleasure and bonding and loving practices.”

Well it seems that someone outted her. If her comments were taken out of context she should explain the proper context, or if she did, maybe the article was edited to exclude such commentary. Certainly there is a creep factor here.

"248 pages of leaked Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating texts” show that the American negotiating position, as Greenpeace put the matter, allows "No place for climate protection in TTIP,” and, though "We have known that the EU position was bad, now we see the US position is even worse.”